Thomas Joseph Byrnes

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The Honourable
Thomas Joseph Byrnes
12th Premier of Queensland
In office
13 April 1898 – 27 September 1898
Preceded bySir Hugh Nelson
Succeeded byJames Dickson
ConstituencyWarwick
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Cairns
In office
29 April 1893 – 4 April 1896
Preceded byFrederick Wimble
Succeeded byIsidor Lissner
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Warwick
In office
4 April 1896 – 27 September 1898
Preceded byArthur Morgan
Succeeded byArthur Morgan
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office
12 August 1890 – 13 March 1893
Personal details
Born(1860-11-11)11 November 1860
Spring Hill, Queensland
Died27 September 1898(1898-09-27) (aged 37)
Brisbane, Queensland
Resting placeToowong Cemetery
NationalityAustralian
Political partyMinisterialist
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
OccupationBarrister

Thomas Joseph Byrnes (11 November 1860 – 27 September 1898) was Premier of Queensland from April 1898 until his death in October of the same year, having previously served in several ministerial positions in his parliamentary career.[1] He was the first Roman Catholic Premier of Queensland and the first to die in office.

Early life

Byrnes was born in Spring Hill, Queensland, to Irish immigrants Patrick Byrnes and his wife Anna, née Tighe.[1] Byrnes was educated at Bowen State School, then, winning a scholarship where topped the state,[2] he studied at Brisbane Grammar School and then studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, graduating with honours in both. During his time at the University of Melbourne he was Prelector of the Dialectic Society of Trinity College (University of Melbourne),[3] winning the Society's inaugural Wigram Allen Prize in 1883, only months after it had been established by Sir George Wigram Allen.[4] In 1882-83 Byrnes taught at Xavier College.[1]

Monument at the burial site of Thomas Joseph Byrnes at Brisbane's Toowong Cemetery.

Career

Byrnes was admitted as a barrister in Victoria on 8 July 1884 and returned for a Queensland admission on 5 August; he then began a successful career as a barrister.[1] Byrnes' talent brought him to the attention of fellow barrister Sir Samuel Griffith, then Premier of Queensland, who had him appointed Solicitor-General with a seat in the Legislative Council. Byrnes stood down from the Legislative Council to successfully stand for Cairns in the Legislative Assembly in 1893. He represented Cairns until 1896, after which he represented Warwick in the Legislative Assembly from 1896 to his death in 1898.[5]

Byrnes continued his private law practice and participated in two major Supreme Court of Queensland cases. In the Queensland Investment Co. v. Grimley case, Byrnes successful conduct of the defence was praised widely. In the John Robb arbitration case of 1892, praise for Byrnes skill was accompanied by public objection to the high fees paid to Samuel Griffith as leading counsel and to Byrnes as one of his assistants.[1] In 1895 and 1897, Byrnes represented Queensland at meetings of the Federal Council of Australasia.[1]

Sir Thomas McIlwraith appointed him as Attorney-General of Queensland in the Continuous Ministry, and when Hugh Nelson stepped down as Premier; Byrnes, the youngest member of the Ministry by a large margin, became Premier.

Statue of Thomas Joseph Byrnes in Centenary Place, Brisbane
Statue of Thomas Joseph Byrnes in Warwick

Late life

Byrnes' ability had led many to expect great things of him, but he contracted measles then pneumonia and died on 27 September 1898. Byrnes was accorded a state funeral which proceeded from St Stephen's Cathedral to the Toowong Cemetery.[6]

Legacy

Byrnes is commemorated by two statues, one in Centenary Place in Brisbane and the heritage-listed T J Byrnes Monument in Warwick, both funded by public subscriptions.[1]

The township of Byrnestown in Queensland is named after him, as is its main street Byrnes Parade and its railway station.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Rosemary Howard Gill, 'Byrnes, Thomas Joseph (1860 - 1898)' , Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 517-519. Retrieved 19 April 2010
  2. ^ Serle, Percival (1949). "Byrnes, Thomas Joseph". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  3. ^ "DEATH OF THE QUEENSLAND PREMIER". The Advertiser. South Australia. 27 September 1898. p. 10. Retrieved 25 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "NEWS OF THE DAY". The Age. No. 8924. Victoria, Australia. 24 September 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 25 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Alphabetical Register of Members of the Legislative Assembly 1860-2012 and of the Legislative Council 1860-1922" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2009-2012: The 53rd Parliament. Queensland Government. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Classified Advertising". The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933). Qld.: National Library of Australia. 29 September 1898. p. 8. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Byrnestown (entry 45325)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 3 August 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Joseph Byrnes.
Political offices
Preceded by Premier of Queensland
13 April - 27 September 1898 		Succeeded by
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Member for Cairns
1893–1896 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Warwick
1896–1898 		Succeeded by
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